History Literature / Blackcollar

Unfortunately, his resistance cell is destroyed before thebasicy can provide him with the papers he needs to complete his mission, so when he arrives on the unfamiliar planet of Plinry he is forced to seek help from the local Blackcollars, led by the enigmatic Damon Lathe.

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Unfortunately, his resistance cell is destroyed before thebasicy they can provide him with the papers he needs to complete his mission, so when he arrives on the unfamiliar planet of Plinry he is forced to seek help from the local Blackcollars, led by the enigmatic Damon Lathe.

Unfortunately, his resistance cell is destroyed before they can provide him with the papers he needs to complete his mission, so when he arrives on the unfamiliar planet of Plinry he is forced to seek help from the local Blackcollars, led by the enigmatic Damon Lathe.

to:

Unfortunately, his resistance cell is destroyed before they thebasicy can provide him with the papers he needs to complete his mission, so when he arrives on the unfamiliar planet of Plinry he is forced to seek help from the local Blackcollars, led by the enigmatic Damon Lathe.

* InsufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The Ryqril are described as "technological imbeciles": a scientific term meaning that they can copy their captured races' technology just fine, but are actually incapable of producing new technology of their own beyond a certain basic level. Fortunately for them, they have quite a few captured races.

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* InsufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The Ryqril are described as "technological imbeciles": a scientific term meaning that they can copy their captured races' technology just fine, but are actually incapable of producing new technology of their own beyond a certain basic level.[[note]]"Basic" including FTL travel and laser sidearms.[[/note]] Fortunately for them, they have quite a few captured races.

* CommonRanks: The standard Terran military (and its remnants among the resistance) appears to use them, but the Blackcollars have their own separate rank structure. The two most commonly seen ranks are those of commando and commando commander, or "comsquare".

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* CommonRanks: UsefulNotes/CommonRanks: The standard Terran military (and its remnants among the resistance) appears to use them, but the Blackcollars have their own separate rank structure. The two most commonly seen ranks are those of commando and commando commander, or "comsquare".

* {{Ninja}}: Blackcollars certainly have a lot of Ninja elements; they could probably be described as Ninjas [[RecycledInSpace In Space]].** Heavily implied in-universe that this was an intentional part of the Blackcollars' training, since their purpose and weaponry aligned very closely. Samurai elements are also referenced in describing the Blackcollars' determination and code of loyalty.

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* {{Ninja}}: Blackcollars certainly have a lot of Ninja elements; they could probably be described as Ninjas [[RecycledInSpace In Space]].** Space]]. Heavily implied in-universe that this was an intentional part of the Blackcollars' training, since their purpose and weaponry aligned very closely. Samurai elements are also referenced in describing the Blackcollars' determination and code of loyalty.

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Lathe ''loves'' this, and this to the point that it seriously annoys Caine, resulting in the page quote. However, it's usually [[JustifiedTrope justified]], justified]] by the number of spies lurking about, especially once ThePlan plays out.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted; flexarmor doesn't render the wearer invincible, but it will absorb one shot from almost anything. As Lathe puts it, against Blackcollars most shooters only get one shot.

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* ArmorIsUseless: Averted; flexarmor doesn't render the wearer invincible, but it will absorb one shot from almost anything.anything short of anti-vehicle weapons. As Lathe puts it, against Blackcollars most shooters only get one shot.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Many of the human administrators and security personnel are loyalty conditioned, a process involving drugs which renders people unable to betray the Ryqril, no matter how much they'd like to. One security guard, assigned to protect a bigshot he has reason to personally hate (the bigshot personally ordered the execution of the guard's parents), daydreams about allowing an assassin to slip by him -- but he knows the conditioning won't let him. [[spoiler:And then he gets dosed with a drug that erases loyalty conditioning]].

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* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Many All of the human administrators and security personnel are loyalty conditioned, a process involving drugs which renders people unable to betray the Ryqril, no matter how much they'd like to. One security guard, assigned to protect a bigshot he has reason to personally hate (the bigshot personally ordered the execution of the guard's parents), daydreams about allowing an assassin to slip by him -- but he knows the conditioning won't let him. [[spoiler:And then he gets dosed with a drug that erases loyalty conditioning]].

* FountainOfYouth: A drug called Idunine can remove many of the effects of aging, and in large enough doses can cause people's appearances to regress until they appear significantly younger. [[spoiler: On one occasion this is used to disguise several members of the team.]]* InsufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The Ryqril are described as "technological imbeciles": a scientific term meaning that they can copy their captured races' technology just fine, but are actually incapable of producing new technology of their own. Fortunately for them, they have quite a few captured races.

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* FountainOfYouth: A drug called Idunine can remove avert or reverse many of the effects of aging, and in large enough doses can cause people's appearances to regress until they appear significantly younger. [[spoiler: On one occasion this is used to disguise several members of the team.]]* InsufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The Ryqril are described as "technological imbeciles": a scientific term meaning that they can copy their captured races' technology just fine, but are actually incapable of producing new technology of their own.own beyond a certain basic level. Fortunately for them, they have quite a few captured races.

* FightingWithChucks: Nunchaku are among the basic blackcollar weapons.* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Averted. One blackcollar is a badass. Five blackcollars make for five badasses.

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* FightingWithChucks: Nunchaku are among the basic blackcollar Blackcollar weapons.* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Averted. One blackcollar Blackcollar is a badass. Five blackcollars Blackcollars make for five badasses.

* KeystoneArmy: Subverted. In ''The Backlash Mission'' the blackcollars acquire the result of a secret research project, [[spoiler:the drug Whiplash, which breaks the loyalty-conditioning of LesCollaborateurs and allows them to rebel. However, they find that the majority of people they try it on are still loyal to the Ryqril out of sheer inertia, fear of being discovered, and the fact they've been serving the Ryqril all their lives]].

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* KeystoneArmy: Subverted. In ''The Backlash Mission'' the blackcollars Blackcollars acquire the result of a secret research project, [[spoiler:the drug Whiplash, which breaks the loyalty-conditioning of LesCollaborateurs and allows them to rebel. However, they find that the majority of people they try it on are still loyal to the Ryqril out of sheer inertia, fear of being discovered, and the fact they've been serving the Ryqril all their lives]].

* AsteroidThicket: Subverted. The asteroid belt near Argent is relatively compact. When Caine hears this, he asks about hiding ships there to ambush other ships passing through. This is dismissed when another Blackcollar mentions that, despite the asteroids being ''relatively'' close, they are still too far apart to launch an effective ambush.

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